Thomas Forsyth was a 19th-century American frontiersman and trader who served as a U. S. Indian agent to the Sauk and Fox during the 1820s and was replaced by Felix St. Vrain, prior to the Black Hawk War.
Background
Thomas Forsyth first rendered allegiance to Great Britain, since he was born at Detroit while it was still an English outpost; later he became an American citizen and actively aided the United States on the frontier.
His father, William Forsyth, emigrated about 1750 from the north of Ireland; enlisted in a Royal regiment, and was wounded in 1759 at the battle on the Plains of Abraham.
In 1764 at Quebec he married Ann, widow of John Kinzie, then moved to Detroit, where before the birth of his son, he opened a famous inn, close to the fort.
Education
Thomas grew up with such education as the frontier town afforded, and after his father’s death in 1790 entered the fur-trade, acting as clerk for George Sharp.
Career
His first assignment was at Saginaw among the Ottawa Indians. After the Americans in 1796 took possession of Detroit young Forsyth with a partner named Richardson opened a fur-trade post near Quincy.
In 1804 he formed a partnership with his half-brother, John Kinzie, who had just settled at Chicago. Forsyth took station at Peoria Lake, after having married that same year at Detroit Keziah Malotte, who as a child had been captured by Indians during the frontier wars. He lived at Peoria until the hostilities of the War of 1812 began, but during the war removed his family to St. Louis.
Before 1812 he had offered his services to the American government and had been appointed Indian sub-agent.
He protected the exposed frontier of the Americans and ransomed captives taken at Chicago in 1812, notably Lieutenant Helm. After the treaty of peace he was employed in negotiations with the Indians of his locality.
He also kept his agency at Peoria until 1819, when he was sent on a mission to the Indians of the headwaters of the Mississippi and ascended the stream in a keel-boat, examining the country as he went.
Later in the same year he was promoted to a full agency and stationed at Fort Armstrong, near Rock Island, where he cared for the tribes of the Sauk and Foxes, and came to be known to them as Mah-tah-win (The Corn). After his retirement in 1830 he lived at St. Louis, where he engaged himself in writing his experiences and what he knew of Indian languages, manners, and custom.
Achievements
Thomas Forsyth has been listed as a noteworthy Indian agent, fur trader by Marquis Who's Who.
Personality
It has been said of him that he had a “well-balanced mind in a sound and athletic body. He was a gifted talker and a most pleasant and entertaining companion. Benevolence and kindness of heart were his predominant traits. His private life was amiable and blameless”.
Connections
He married Detroit Keziah Malotte, who as a child had been captured by Indians during the frontier wars.
